Pipe cleaner



Dec. 9, 1952 FRANK 2,620,497

PIPE CLEANER Filed March "14, 1947 FIG. 4. FIG. 5.

William A- YCMA INVENTOR a ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 9, 1952 PIPE CLEANER William A. Frank, Hackensack, N. J., assignor to National Water Main Cleaning 00., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Maine Application March 14, 1947, Serial No. 734,624

2 Claims.

1 This invention relates to a pipe cleaning tool more particularly of the type provided with a plurality of radially disposed prongs or spring fingers for the purpose of removing rust and corrosion from the interior of metal pipe and tubular conduits such as water mains or the like preparatory to the application of cement linings. The abrading fingers of such tools are usually detachably mounted so as to be replaceable when worn or when different size elements are required.

The object of the present invention is to im prove the efi'iciency of such pipe cleaning tools and to facilitate the convenient and rapid attachment of the spring fingers or wires to the periphery of the cleaning tool.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mounting arrangement which eliminates interference of adjacent elements and al lows the attachment of a large number of elements to the mounting much more compactly than possible with prior devices.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pipe cleaner wherein the spring fingers are mounted so as to efiiciently remove foreign matter from obstructions and joints and are resilient laterally as well as in the direction of travel for the removal of deposits surrounding rivets or the like.

An additional object is to provide a mounting whereby the spring fingers are either clamped in position or dismantled in a single operation greatly improving the operation and the handling of such tools.

Other objects will be apparent from a consideration of the description and appended drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a partial section of a water conduit showing schematically the operation of the improved cleaner on the seam of the conduit.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a proposed arrangement for staggering the spring fingers on the concentric mounting.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail showing a preferred form of spring abrading finger.

Figure 5 shows an end view of the finger in Figure 4 with particular reference to the coil in relation to a next laterally adjacent element.

Figure 6 is a modified means of attaching the finger to the mounting.

Referring to the drawings and in particular Figures 1 to 5 the usual scraper is provided with an annular support or rim l0 having two or more rows of openings ll disposed about the rim, the openings of each row being staggered with respect to the openings of the other row. The openings l i receive the downwardly turned ends I2 of the wire scrapers or fingers 13. The wire scrapers or fingers l3 comprise a lateral arm l4 terminating in the downwardly turned end l2 and a coil [5 which terminates in an upstanding forwardly curved scraper arm or prong IS. The scrapers or fingers l3 are disposed in parallel relationship with the downwardly turned ends inserted in the openings H as shown in Figure 2 whereupon an annular clamping ring H is merely arranged concentrically about. the annular support l0 so that it overlies the lateral arms l4 of the spring fingers l3 as shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive. The ends of the annular ring I! are then secured together by a bolt I8 securely clamping the spring fingers I3 in position around the periphery of the annular support Hi.

When the spring fingers [3 are clamped to the support in the manner illustrated in Figure 1 the scraper arms or prongs l6 are radially disposed with respect to the interior of the pipe [9 being cleaned. The individual wires or prongs l6 of spring steel or other resilient material are bent backwards and laterally as rivets and other obstructions are encountered while the device is drawn through the pipe by suitable mechanism. One or more coils [5 may be formed in the spring fingers l3 to increase the resilience of the fingers without increase in length.

Referring to Figure 5 it will be seen that the coil is elevated above the lateral arm I 4 to at least the thickness of the wire to allow an exceptionally compact arrangement of the spring fingers where desired for certain applications. In this form of the invention, it will be seen that the arm M of the next adjacent spring finger lies directly beneath the bottom of the convolution Hi, the plane of the bottom of the convolution being spaced from the plane of the bottom of the arm [4 a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the arm. By this means of construction, the fingers can be arranged in closely juxtaposed position, with a maximum number of fingers disposed within a minimum space so that efficient scraping can be accomplished. The spacing or alternation of the devices I 3 serves to render the devices free to move laterally without interference with the fingers adjacent thereto.

In the modification shown in Figure 6 the lateral arms l4 may be formed with a return bend or hook 20 which is secured over the edge of the .3. annular support II) by clamping the ring 11 over the sections M in the same manner as above.

I claim:

1. A pipe cleaning device comprising a support having a leading and a trailing end and a plurality of pipe cleaning fingers fixed. to said support in closely adjacent positions and extending out- Wardly of said support in a direction substantially perpendicular thereto, each finger including a radially extending scraping portion facing towards the leading end, and an arm extending angularly therefrom in a direction opposite to that of the scraping, a convolution in said finger connecting the scraping portion and said arm, the bottom of said convolution resting on a'plain'e spaced from the bottom of said arm a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said arm, the arm of the next adjacent finger being supported laterally thereof in close contact with said first arm and directly beneath the convolution of said finger, and means forfixing said finger to said support.

2. A pipe cleaning device coni'p'risinga support having'a leading and trailing end and a plurality of rows of regularly spaced holes" over its surface, the holes ineach row being staggered with respect to the other, and aplurality of cleaning fingers iii-staggered rows fixed to said support in closely adjacentpositions extending outwardly of said support a direction substantially perpendicular thereto, each finger includinga radially extending scraping portion facing towards the leading endand an arm extending angularly therefrom in a direction opposite to that of the scraping, said arm having a projection insertable into one of said holes, said arm and scraping portion being joined by a convolution, the bottom of which is ofiset laterally from said arm a distance substantially equal to the thickness of '4 said finger, said bottom resting on a plane spaced from said support a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said arm, the arm of the next adjacent finger having its projection inserted through the next adjacent staggered hole of said support, said second arm lying closely adjacent said first arm and beneath said convolution thereof, and means for fixing said arms-to said support.

WILLIAM A. FRANK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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